FDA Cracks Down on E-Cigarettes

Aug. 13, 2010

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Of course those who switch to electronic are still feeding their nicotine addiction, but the new habit is considerably healthier, doctors say.

"It appears that e-cigarettes are much safer. Yeah they are still getting nicotine, but would you rather have it alone or delivered with thousands of toxins, including 40 carcinogens," says Michael Siegel, Associate Chairman of Community Health Sciences at Boston University.

Puff Your Way to Nicotine-Free

"In an ideal world, I would prefer that all smokers stop smoking and stop using all nicotine products," says Dr. John Spangler of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, but nicotine without tobacco is at least the lesser of two evils, especially for those smokers who are unable to quit, he adds.

And according to users, the switch is often seamless. Whereas the nicotine patch, gum, or other products intended to help smokers stop smoking have high failure rates, users of e-cigarettes are more often than not immediate converts.

"The first day I got it I quit smoking," says Wright, who says that she knows many other e-smokers who share her experience.

And though e-cigarettes were not originally intended as an aid for kicking a nicotine habit, some consumers have begun using it as such.

The gradation of nicotine concentrations available to consumers lends itself to a step-down program of weaning oneself off nicotine.

FDA-approved tools for smoking cessation like the patch require smokers to give up the act of the cigarette break, but with the e-cigarette, the same routine, with the same amount of puffs can remain stable while the nicotine levels are slowly decreased all the way to the allegedly nicotine-free cartridges.

"Over the 18 months I've used them, I've decreased the nicotine level gradually," Wright says, "I'm well on my way to zero."

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